Thursday, August 11, 2016
For the last four decades the Library-Archives Division of the Wisconsin Historical Society has been working on collecting, processing, and scanning records from across Wisconsin. These records are the product of a collaborative partnership with FamilySearch, Ancestry, the state court system, and other institutions.
“Having access to [these] records online is very critical and important to family history research,” said Matt Blessing, Administrator for the Division of Library, Archives and Museum Collections for the Wisconsin Historical Society. Having digitized, searchable, online records allows amateur and professional researchers and genealogists to have easy access to primary sources that decode the past.
The Family History Records put together by WHS includes:
- Wisconsin, State Censuses, 1895 and 1905
- Wisconsin, Birth Index, 1820-1907
- Wisconsin, Deaths, 1820-1907
- Wisconsin, Marriage Index, 1820-1907
- Wisconsin, Wills and Probate Records, 1800-1987
The collection is hosted by Ancestry and access to the Wisconsin specific records is available to Wisconsin residents through BadgerLink, Wisconsin’s Online Library. To access the records, Wisconsin residents may need to log in to BadgerLink using a Wisconsin public library card.
“BadgerLink’s purpose is to provide quality online resources to Wisconsin residents, and the partnership with the Wisconsin Historical Society, providing access to this Wisconsin-centric collection is a great opportunity for both organizations to further our goals and provide Wisconsin residents with great online resources.” said Martha Berninger, director of Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning.
On Thursday September 29th at 10am, participate in a free Genealogy Class to learn how to use Wisconsin Historical Society Family History Records, and stay tuned for additional training materials from the Wisconsin Historical Society and BadgerLink.